"Nicholas Kristof blamed Appalachian poverty on the absence of federal anti-poverty programs (“To effectively fight poverty, you have to start early,” op-ed column, Feb. 25). Allegedly, the United States doesn’t start the poverty war early enough in Johnny’s life. Well, how does 1964 sound? President Lyndon Johnson’s administration started a war on poverty, particularly Appalachian poverty. Since then, an alphabet soup of anti-poverty programs has consumed $17 trillion in means-tested assistance."

" As I watched the opening credits of Reelz’s new show, 'Hollywood Hillbillies,' I expected to be annoyed or outraged by yet another show that continued the exploitation of the mountain Southerner. I expected to see every hillbilly stereotype in the book. After all, 'Hollywood Hillbillies' is billed as a fish-out-of-water story, like the horrible 'Real Beverly Hillbillies,' which CBS threatened to create more than a decade ago. Appalachians have been dreading a program like that ever since TLC stopped broadcasting educational content and the History Channel became a 24/7 ghost and UFO fest. The closest we’ll be able to get to 'The Real Beverly Hillbillies' is here, and I’m not worried. You shouldn’t be either. Because I can’t imagine that the show will last longer than a season."

"One of the nation's largest coal companies will pay a record $27.5 million fine over violations of federal clean-water rules in Kentucky and four other Appalachian states.Alpha Natural Resources also will spend an estimated $200 million to reduce illegal pollution discharges into hundreds of waterways in Appalachia, the U.S. Environmental Protection agency announced Wednesday. The $27.5 million fine is the largest ever for violations of water-pollution permits under the federal Clean Water Act, the EPA said. The discharges — many of them from Massey Energy mines that Alpha later acquired — occurred in Kentucky, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Virginia and West Virginia."

"It’s well documented that the American banjo has its origins in instruments brought to the colonies by enslaved Africans. Virginia has a long history with the banjo, and it didn’t start with bluegrass--it started with enslaved Africans."

The Weekly Links is intended to bring awareness of news stories related to the Appalachian region. An article's inclusion in this list does notimply agreement with or approval of all things written within.